Acushnet Saw Mills plans open for public input

ACUSHNET — The Buzzards Bay Coalition has announced its initial plan for the Acushnet Saw Mills site that includes walking and biking paths as well as a stone amphitheater.

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By ARIEL WITTENBERG

southcoasttoday.com

By ARIEL WITTENBERG

Posted Jan. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By ARIEL WITTENBERG
Posted Jan. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

ACUSHNET — The Buzzards Bay Coalition has announced its initial plan for the Acushnet Saw Mills site that includes walking and biking paths as well as a stone amphitheater.

The coalition purchased the 19-acre property in 2007. At the time, the land was home to the former Acushnet Saw Mills, which the coalition has since demolished.

Now, the coalition is set with the task of "deconstructing" the site — returning it to its natural state of open space.

Coalition members presented their initial plan in Acushnet during a public meeting Wednesday night.

"The idea is to get a sense of what people think of the design before we go about engineering how to exactly make it happen," coalition Vice President for Watershed Protection Brendan Annett said.

The idea of restoring the property is not a new one and is what the coalition had in mind when it initially purchased it.

What is new are the exact elements that will be part of the property once work is finished. Those components include removing remaining pavement to restore the riverbank and wetlands, expanding the existing fields, creating a trail network on the property, installing a canoe and kayak launch on the pond with a picnic area, providing scenic overlooks along the river and refurbishing an existing small building on the property to use as an education center.

"The concept itself is simple but what we have figured out is where we are going to put things," Annett said.

After considering public comment, the coalition hopes to finalize the design by February, at which point it will "get into the nitty-gritty details of the engineering," Annett said.

"We know there are folks out there who are interested in this project and we want their input first," he said. "In the end, this land is the public's to use."